Had the third interview in Raleigh this past weekend. Natania came along, as per the owner's wishes, and met everyone. She got a tour of the office space, which is more than she's ever seen of my current workplace. In more than a year of my employment there, my own wife has not met a single co-worker, nor has she seen where I toil away. I haven't even started at the new place, and she's already got a great idea of what I'll be doing, with whom I'll be doing it, and where.
The office is a complete turn-around from where I'm at now. There are several part-timers (myself included), and everyone is on extreme flex-time. Most were under 30, and all were extremely nice. The place is well-lit, whereas my current work environment is like a stifling cave. New office furniture, nice flatscreen monitors, and a clean atmosphere. I'm looking forward to Day 1, which will begin at 10:00am on Monday, June 6th.
Immediately following this interview, we continued eastward to Oak Island for my sister's wedding. It was as wedding-like as you can get, which includes, I've learned, a dash of the good, a smidgeon of the bad, all mixed up (a la The Facts of Life) with free alcohol from numerous open bars. This resulted in a very flavorful weekend. Much comradery, vast quantities of potential for drama, but surprisingly little of the stuff itself. I was glad to see my sister happy, and extremely happy myself to see members of my family and some very, very good friends--primarily, Miles and Laura and Jessie. Not to mention the fantastic seafood that we feasted upon last evening at a well-recommended restaurant on Oak Island, which, after a justified hour-and-a-half wait, was more delicious than words can render truthfully.
We're working at the schematics for the move later this month. There's yet another wedding at the tail-end of May, and I have to admit, when it's three of the things in six months, and that average starts reaching one wedding every other month, you just don't want to think about the damn things: toasts and drunken relatives and the two forming a shaky partnership in the construction of long and boisterous speeches whose primary characteristics are less "uplifting" and "poignant," but more "slurred" and "halted."
My early retirement will commence on May 20th, which means I have but one week to steel myself for tendering my resignation. There is a week in New England planned, and then we will be moving.
Just bought Ben Folds' new album, Songs For Silverman, from the iTunes Music Store. So far, it's nice. Usually, I need some period of attachment, and my iPod shall be the medium for that interchange. I'll let you know how it goes.